2012 Sogn Valley Craft Fair News

The 2012 Sogn Valley Craft Fair has over two dozen artists in a variety of media including painting, pottery, jewelry, metalwork, basketry, printmaking, wood among others, selected carefully by our artist steering committee.

Carla Thompson, Northfield MN Barefoot Studio

Like us on Facebook to see beautiful images of Sogn Valley Craft Fair artwork in your newsfeed.

New Artist for 2012 James Sannurud from St. Paul Minnesota, lathe-turned wooden bowls, vessels and boxes.

2012 Artists 
Julie Arthur | weaving
Ian Baldry | fiber art
Kerry Brooks | pottery
Steve Claypatch | glass
Community Homestead | wood, fabric
Julie Crabtree | fiber
Gary Crawford | pottery
James Harvieux | woodcraft
Becky Jokela | pastels
Amanda Kopplin | jewelry
Jorie LePlavy | handwoven beadwork
Jenny Levernier | sterling and stone jewelry
Dina and Leopold Lisovskis | silver and gold jewelry
Nathan Lovas | photography
Dawn Makarios | pottery
Renee Nation | fiber
Robert Oates | woodcarving
Donovan Palmquist | soda fired porcelain
Wendy Penta| handmade clay tiles
Christiane Porter | Raku clay and glass
Colleen Riley | soda fired porcelain
Jim Sannurud | woodcraft
Paul and Jill Scarpari | basketry
Richard Stephens | prints
Mariella Teerbeest-Schladweiler | fiber
Geri Thieme | mixed media
Carla Thompson | painting and mixed media
Jennifer Wolcott | steel and glass

Read more at our website

Nathan Lovas Photography.

Visit our local sponsors Ferndale Market and the Cannon River Winery

Sogn Valley Craft Fair 2012

Sogn Valley Craft Fair is a Minnesota tradition; 2012 marks our 40th year bringing fine art, crafts and local and artisinal foods in a beautiful country setting.

Mark your calenders! Date for SVCF for 2012:
Saturday, October 6th, 10 am- 5 pm
Sunday, October 7th, 10 am-5 pm

Sogn Valley Craft Fair is special.

SVCF is located in Minnesota's Sogn Valley in Southeastern Minnesota. The Sogn Valley landscape is rolling hills, farmland, forests and small fast-moving rivers and streams. For many Twin Citians a trip to SVCF is a chance to both check out excellent arts AND get away from the city--but not too far. SVCF is just 45 minutes from the Twin Cities and it's a lovely drive. In early October the trees will be changing colors and you might see some deer or wild turkeys on your way down.

SVCF is an intimate juried show. That means our artists are invited to the show based on the quality of their work with an eye towards representing diverse media. Visitors can definitely expect to see it all during a morning or afternoon at the Fair.

SVCF is free! No admission fee and no parking fees.

SVCF was supporting local and artisinal foods long before it was the hip thing to do. Raw Minnesota wildflower honey, organic produce, indian corn, pumpkin ands seasonal garden items, handmade jams, relishes, caramels and mnore are part of the mix.

We feature local music. You might find a band set up in the barn or maybe strolling among the crowds.

Directions. Click here.
Follow us or stop back again. We will be updating with lists of artists, artist profiles and photos.


Photo of Dawn Makarios, potter and hostess for the Sogn Valley Craft Fair in her studio. You can tour Dawn's granary studio and check out the kilns at the

Basketry at the Sogn Valley Craft Fair--Jill and Paul Scarpari

Paul and Jill Scarpari both love the craft of basketry and have been weaving for fifteen and twenty years, respectively.

I enjoy creating baskets using all types of basket weaving techniques-flat, rib, coiling and even twills. Paul concentrates on flat weave and especially larger baskets that are useful in the home. We both agree that baskets are meant to be used, that is the tradition of basketry-useful art.--Jill Scarpari

The Scrapari's business, Scrap Baskets has a wide variety of baskets available-from bread baskets to hampers to wine carriers and sculptures.






Find the Scarpari's and their baskets at the Sogn Valley Craft Fair on October 1st and 2nd, 2011.

2011 Sogn Valley Craft Fair

Sogn Valley Craft Fair is a Minnesota tradition; 2011 marks our 39th year bringing fine art, crafts and local and artisinal foods in a beautiful country setting.

Mark your calenders! Date for SVCF for 2011:
Saturday, October 1sr, 10 am- 5 pm
Sunday, October 2nd, 10 am-5 pm

Sogn Valley Craft Fair is special.

SVCF is located in Minnesota's Sogn Valley in Southeastern Minnesota. The Sogn Valley landscape is rolling hills, farmland, forests and small fast-moving rivers and streams. For many Twin Citians a trip to SVCF is a chance to both shop for excellent artwork and crafts AND get away from the city--but not too far. SVCF is just 45 minutes from the Twin Cities and it's a lovely drive. In early October the trees will be changing colors and you might see some deer or wild turkeys on your way down.

SVCF is an intimate juried show. That means our artists are invited to the show based on the quality of their work with an eye towards representing diverse media. Our artists include a wide variety of potters,including those working in raku, porclein and stoneware, functional and sculptural pottery, jewelers working in silver and gold and beads, painting, photography, basketry, fabric artists, metalwork and more. Visitors can definitely expect to view all of our artists work during a morning or afternoon at the Fair.

SVCF is free! No admission fee and no parking fees.

SVCF was supporting local and artisinal foods long before it was the hip thing to do. Raw Minnesota wildflower honey, organic produce, indian corn, pumpkin ands seasonal garden items, handmade jams, relishes, caramels and mnore are part of the mix.

We feature local music. You might find a band set up in the barn or maybe strolling among the crowds.

Directions. Click here.
Follow us or stop back again. We will be updating with lists of artists, artist profiles and photos.


Photo of Dawn Makarios, potter and hostess for the Sogn Valley Craft Fair in her studio. You can tour Dawn's granary studio and check out the kilns at the fair.

Sogn Valley Craft Fair Prize Drawing: WIN A FREE POT!

We are giving away a woodfired tumbler-style vase embellished with stylized little birds by potter, Dawn Makarios.

All you need to enter is provide Sogn Valley Craft Fair with a valid email address. You need to live in WI, MN or Iowa (in other words you have to... be a potential fairgoer.)

You can expect two or three emails each late summer and fall from Sogn Valley Craft Fair. We won't share your email with anyone else.

Send an email to epiorier@mninter.net to enter. We will draw a winner in a couple of weeks and contact the winner by email.

The pictures below are not the actual vase we are giving away. They are representative of similar pottery by Dawn.

Dawn Makarios--Potter and Sogn Valley Craft Fair Hostess

I started playing with clay in 1987 as a student with Peter Leach, and never stopped. I have been creating functional pottery for the past 23 years. I enjoy working with stoneware and porclain-like clay. My pots are fired at high temperature using reduction atmosphere from wood and salt to create richness in the clay body. I like to see the artists movement on the surface of the clay creating a rich textural feel to the pot. I also like to teach pottery, share the love of clay and encourage those to know we all have the artist within us.

I am the hostess and co-organizer of the Sogn Valley Craft Fair. The Craft Fair was started over 30 years ago by Minnesota potter, Peter Leach and took place on his farm in the Sogn Valley. In the years following Peter's retirement from pottery, the fair has moved to our farm just east of the orignal location. I have been participating in the Sogn Valley Craft Fair as an artist for over 20 years.

In addition to the Sogn Valley Valley Craft Fair, you can find my work at the Rochester Art Center, The Northfield Arts Guild other art events and galleries in Southeastern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

My art has been influenced by many great teachers including Warren McKenzie, who taught me that functional pottery can be affordable for everyone and Mel Jacobsen, who has been the most encouraging mentor and friend. He taught me anyone can make a pot with a few technical skills and have fun doing it. We upper midwestern potters share a wonderful tradition of pottery camp, called Hay Creek, organized by Mel Jacobsen and Kurt Wild, where fellow potters gather to share ideas, fire kilns and stretch the boundaries of our art with new techniques and glazes.

I live on a farm outside of Cannon Falls, Minnesota. My studio is a renovated grainery and outside I have 2 reduction kilns, one of them for salt/soda firings. I enjoy my supportive husband and family and friends, 3 lab dogs and being outdoors whenever I can.

Leo and Dina Lisovskis--Artists in Silver and Gold

"We hope our jewelry inspires people to remember the beauty, joy and wisdom found in nature."

Leopold and Dina Lisovskis moved to rural Wisconsin 30 years ago and have lovingly restored and 1850s log cabin which is surrounded by extensive vegetable, herb and flower gardens. It is in the setting that Leo and Dina's handcrafted jewelry is created.

The inspiration for Leo and Dina's designs come from the surrounding woods, marshes, garden and their love of the North Shore, where they have gone for inspiration and renewal since they were both young. Their native Latvian heritage also has a strong influence on their jewelry design.



Leo and Dina choose each stone for their work because of the story it tells. The silver and gold work is a continuation of that story. If a stone suggests the green ripples of a quiet pond, the peice develops into a marsh scene with water lilies, a gold frog on a silver lily pad, and perhaps a small gold fish diving under the lily roots. A colored gemstone for a wildflower piece will be chosen because the stone has the color and quality of that particular flower.

In their mission to remain true to the total handmade concept, every leaf, flower, berry and tree is individually cut, formed, engraved and soldered in place. Each piece of jewley is totally handcrafted and unique. Both Dina and Leo are silversmiths, but Dina now concentrates on much of the design work and all of the details of running a studio and business. Leo devotes himself to smithing, which he finds relaxing and fulfilling. According to Dina, "You can always find Leo at his bench."

You can find Dina and Leo and their unique jewelry at the Sogn Valley Craft Fair. October 2nd and October 3rd.

www.sognvalleycraftfair.com